diff --git a/pong/src/event.rs b/pong/src/event.rs
index 89b1719..dc0c5e4 100644
--- a/pong/src/event.rs
+++ b/pong/src/event.rs
@@ -5,10 +5,10 @@ pub mod event {
     use std::io::Write;
 
     #[derive(Debug, Deserialize, Serialize)]
-    pub struct Event {
-        pub topic: String,
-        pub key: Option<String>,
-        pub msg: String,
+    pub struct Event<'a> {
+        pub topic: &'a str,
+        pub key: Option<&'a str>,
+        pub msg: &'a str,
     }
 
     pub trait EventWriterImpl: Send + Sync {
diff --git a/server/src/kafka.rs b/server/src/kafka.rs
index 6c991bb..9759c07 100644
--- a/server/src/kafka.rs
+++ b/server/src/kafka.rs
@@ -55,23 +55,23 @@ impl EventWriterImpl for KafkaDefaultEventWriterImpl {
     }
 }
 
-fn write_events<T>(events: Vec<Event>, producer: &mut Producer<T>) -> Result<(), String> where T : Partitioner {
+fn write_events<'a, T>(events: Vec<Event<'a>>, producer: &mut Producer<T>) -> Result<(), String> where T : Partitioner {
     let mut records_without_key = vec![];
     let mut records_with_key = vec![];
     for event in events {
         match &event.key {
             Some(key) => {
-                let record = Record::from_key_value(event.topic.as_str(), key.clone(), event.msg.as_str());
+                let record = Record::from_key_value(event.topic, key.clone(), event.msg);
                 records_with_key.push(record);
             }
             None => {
-                let record = Record::from_value(event.topic.as_str(), event.msg.as_str());
+                let record = Record::from_value(event.topic, event.msg);
                 records_without_key.push(record);
             }
         }
     }
 
-    let res_with_key = match producer.send_all::<String, &str>(&*records_with_key) {
+    let res_with_key = match producer.send_all::<&str, &str>(&*records_with_key) {
         Ok(_) => Ok(()),
         Err(e) => Err(format!("{}", e)),
     };
@@ -155,9 +155,9 @@ impl KafkaEventReaderImpl {
             println!("querying topic={} partition={}", topic, partition);
             for m in ms.messages() {
                 let event = Event {
-                    topic: String::from(topic),
-                    key: Some(std::str::from_utf8(m.key).unwrap().parse().unwrap()),
-                    msg: std::str::from_utf8(m.value).unwrap().parse().unwrap(),
+                    topic,
+                    key: Some(std::str::from_utf8(m.key).unwrap()),
+                    msg: std::str::from_utf8(m.value).unwrap(),
                 };
                 topic_event_count += 1;
                 events.push(event);
diff --git a/server/src/session_manager.rs b/server/src/session_manager.rs
index 7abde82..5bbec60 100644
--- a/server/src/session_manager.rs
+++ b/server/src/session_manager.rs
@@ -109,9 +109,9 @@ impl SessionManager {
     {
         let json_event = serde_json::to_string(&session_event).unwrap();
         let session_event_write = self.session_producer.write(Event {
-            topic: "session".to_owned(),
+            topic: "session",
             key: None,
-            msg: json_event,
+            msg: json_event.as_str(),
         });
         if let Err(e) = session_event_write {
             let message = format!("Failed to write session create event to kafka: {:?}", e);
@@ -193,9 +193,9 @@ impl SessionWriter {
     pub fn write_to_session(&mut self, topic: &str, messages: Vec<&str>) -> Result<(), String> {
         let events = messages.into_iter().map(|e| {
             Event {
-                msg: e.to_owned(),
-                key: Some(self.session.id.to_string()),
-                topic: topic.to_owned(),
+                msg: e,
+                key: Some(&self.session.id.to_string()),
+                topic,
             }
         }).collect();
         self.writer.write_all(events)